[Jeff]

I'm in process of formulating a 5 gallon sweet blueberry melomel recipe and I'm having a difficult time calculating what my ratio of water, to honey and fruit should be. My target gravity is about 1.148 (34 brix) and my FG target is between 1.030-1.040 with 71B yeast.

With that in mind I want my flavor profile to be primarily focused on the blueberries with the honey as the back bone. From podcasts I’ve watched and literature I’ve read I’ve seen different approaches with ratios up to 75% fruit by volume.

I’m thinking roughly 10lbs of blueberries per gallon and then getting the remainder of my volume and sugar content from water to honey. Where I’m a little bit confused is on what my remaining honey to water ratio should be to ensure it dissolves and still brings out some honey character.

If you could point me in the right direction that would be a huge help!

[dannyjed]

10 lbs of Blueberries per gallon is really high. That would be 50 lbs of blueberries for 5 gallons and hardly enough room for anything else. I suggest 4 lb/gal which would be 20 lbs and 20 lbs of honey. That should get you in the ballpark for your OG. Also, for a FG of 1.030-1.040 you might need to back-sweeten.

[Jeff]

10 lbs of Blueberries per gallon is really high. That would be 50 lbs of blueberries for 5 gallons and hardly enough room for anything else. I suggest 4 lb/gal which would be 20 lbs and 20 lbs of honey. That should get you in the ballpark for your OG. Also, for a FG of 1.030-1.040 you might need to back-sweeten.

I've been giving this more thought and I'm considering utilizing fresh pressed blueberry juice in place of water and then adding more fresh whole berries in primary. Proposed Recipe is below.

Ingredients:
2.0 Gallons of Fresh Pressed Blueberry Juice
20lbs Orange Blossom Honey (roughly 1.6 gallons liquid volume)
20lbs Fresh Whole Blueberries (assuming that this will add about 2 gallons of batch volume)

This puts me near 6 gallons total volume. My only concern is how much extra honey would I need to compensate for the 20lbs of fruit that will more than certainly dilute my mixture.

[dannyjed]

10 lbs of Blueberries per gallon is really high. That would be 50 lbs of blueberries for 5 gallons and hardly enough room for anything else. I suggest 4 lb/gal which would be 20 lbs and 20 lbs of honey. That should get you in the ballpark for your OG. Also, for a FG of 1.030-1.040 you might need to back-sweeten.

I've been giving this more thought and I'm considering utilizing fresh pressed blueberry juice in place of water and then adding more fresh whole berries in primary. Proposed Recipe is below.

Ingredients:
2.0 Gallons of Fresh Pressed Blueberry Juice
20lbs Orange Blossom Honey (roughly 1.6 gallons liquid volume)
20lbs Fresh Whole Blueberries (assuming that this will add about 2 gallons of batch volume)

This puts me near 6 gallons total volume. My only concern is how much extra honey would I need to compensate for the 20lbs of fruit that will more than certainly dilute my mixture.

Not sure why you are opposed to using water. You can add water to your 20 lbs honey until you reach your OG which will be around 4-4.5 gallon mark (honey and water combined). Make sure you mix well (I use a mix-stir). Then, add your 20 lbs of blueberries in a mesh bag. I freeze my fruit first, then thaw which helps break down the cell membranes. I use a 7.9 gallon bucket and staggered nutrient additions and degass for about 5 days. I rack it after 3-4 weeks. This melomel should have plenty of honey and blueberry flavor.